Deck 14: B: Personality

Question 1

Demonstrate that Walter Mischel is correct in his assertion that general personality traits are not accurate predictors of specific behaviours while the trait theorists are also correct in their assertion that personality traits are accurate predictors of a person's behaviour.Use examples from your own life or a friend's life to support your position(s).

Answer 1

Answers will vary but should contain the following points for full credit.
--Mischel is correct in saying that a general personality trait is not a good/an accurate predictor of what a person will do in a particular situation.(Student should give an example of this from his or her own life or a friend's life to demonstrate this. )
--Through the principle of aggregation,the student should show that the personality trait is a better predictor across time and/or situations than for any single incident.(Students should give an example from their own life or a friend's life to demonstrate this.It does not have to follow from the above,but that would be best).

Question 2

Contrast Freud's theory of personality with that of the humanists' theory of personality.

Answer 2

Answers will vary but should contain the following for full credit.
--Freud's psychoanalytic theory assumed psychic determinism,focused on the unconscious level of the mind and assumed that people were naturally destructive (the id and the pleasure principle).The humanists asserted that individuals had free will,focused on conscious level of the mind,and sought constructive personal growth.
--Freud argued for the importance of society in constraining one's biologically based,destructive urges.Rogers argued that others set conditions of worth on us and being too concerned about what we should/ought to do stifled our tendency toward our fullest potential.

Question 3

Describe how an empirical method of test construction differs from the rational/theoretical method of test construction,and use an example to illustrate both.

Answer 3

Answers will vary but should contain the following information for full credit.
The MMPI-2,like its predecessor,consists of ten basic scales,most of which assess mental disorders,such as paranoia,depression,and schizophrenia (see Chapter 15).Hathaway and McKinley developed these scales by means of an empirical (or data-based)method of test construction.Using this approach,researchers begin with two or more criterion groups,such as people with and without a specific psychological disorder,and examine which items best distinguish them.For example,the items on the MMPI depression scale are those that best differentiate patients with clinical depression from nondepressed people.
Psychologists have also developed many structured personality measures using a rational/theoretical method of test construction.In contrast to an empirical approach,this approach requires test developers to begin with a clear-cut conceptualisation of a trait and then write items to assess that conceptualisation.Auke Tellegen (1982)adopted a rational/theoretical approach in constructing the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)and later used factor analysis to select the best items for this test.The MPQ assesses three major self-reported personality traits related to (1)positive emotions (such as happiness and social intimacy), (2)negative emotions (such as anxiety and anger),and (3)impulse control (Tellegen et al. ,1988).Studies show that the MPQ validly assesses these personality traits;scores on its scales correlate highly with ratings of the same traits by peers.

Question 4

What are the core assumptions of psychoanalytic theory?

Question 5

Categorize the similarities and differences between the psychoanalytic,behavioural,and humanistic perspectives on personality.

Question 6

Identify and describe any four of Freud's defence mechanisms.

Question 7

Illustrate the acceptable and dubious forms of personality assessment that have existed or exist today in the field of personality psychology.Your discussion needs to identify at least one acceptable and two dubious forms of personality assessment.

Question 8

What is self-actualization? Describe and discuss both Rogers's and Maslow's approach to self-actualization and understanding personality.

Question 9

Compare and contrast the views of Sigmund Freud with those of B.F.Skinner as they apply to a discussion of personality development.

Question 10

Describe how neo-Freudian theories are similar to and different from Freudian theories.

Question 11

Identify and describe four of the five major criticisms of psychoanalytic theory.